2 min. read
There are numerous reasons why Jesus is offensive. It always amuses me when Christ-followers and non-believers alike say things like, “I really like Jesus.” No you don’t! If you really listened to him and examined how he lived, you’d be offended more often than not. We could say Jesus is more of a Twitter guy than a Facebook guy: he wants to be “followed” not “liked.”
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Take how he demonstrates power, for example.
Jesus on Trial
Try to place yourself in a good viewing spot at Jesus’ trial on the day he was subjected to capital punishment by the state (which was manipulated by the leaders of the religious system). Look at the representative of the state. Look at this governor who appears to be the one in authority. Pilate, seems unsure of his power. Here is the Roman governor of the province presented with a homeless nobody who is mocked as a “king” of a group of religious people with very little tangible power. It should be a no-brainer to guess who has control.
But Pilate doesn’t seem in control. It becomes clear that this “king of the Jews” truly is a king unlike any other. Jesus exercises his power by not holding onto it. He sets aside his power for the good of the whole world. He enters death. The one with power that means anything is the son of an unmarried peasant woman! Truly a king like no other.
He should strike them all dead. Or ride off on a cloud saying, “Na, na, na, na, na, na!” He should at least speak up and defend himself!
But Jesus’ power is the power to not control the perceptions of others. A power that does not seek to be right, nor heard, nor defended. A power that expresses itself through avenues of sacrifice, mercy, love, kindness.
And this is the type of power that has been offered to anyone who follows this Jesus. It’s a power to give our lives away for the sake of Christ and for the love of others. The power to not cling to power. The power to become weak, so that we become strong.
Offensive Power
It’s offensive to think of power this way, much less exercise it, in a Western world whose economy is controlled by the 1-percenters, whose justice is throttled by political elites, and whose hearts are manipulated by a mainline religious system that subsists on unimportant things that Jesus has no interest in.
Each of us have some type of power. The offensive kind of power is available to those of us who follow Jesus. It is only by the grace of God’s Spirit that we are able to use that power as Christ does.
So how will you transform your potential for abusive power into tender mercy? How will you exercise the audacious power to forgive? To be silent? To let your enemies gloat?
As a Jesus-follower, I choose to do as he does: let go of my power in order to let God do something offensive.